Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand storm into BWF World C'ships QFs, stun Japan's 7th-seeded duo

New Delhi [India], August 20 (ANI): India's women's doubles duo, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, produced a clinical straight-game victory to advance to the quarterfinals of the BWF World Championships 2026 on Thursday.
The world No. 39 pair defeated Japan's seventh-seeded duo of Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi 21-16, 21-12 in their Round of 16 encounter at the Indra Gandhi Indoor Stadium in the natonal capital.
Treesa and Gayatri set the tempo early in the opening game, asserting authority with sharp play. Despite disciplined defence from the Japanese pair, the Indians maintained a steady cushion, closing out the first game 21-16.
The second game saw the Indian duo widen the gap quickly. With momentum firmly on their side, they sealed the 21-12 win to book their place in the tournament's last eight.
Earlier, in the Round of 32 clash, Jolly and Gopichand registered a straight-game victory over the 16th seeds Lauren Lam and Allison Lee of the USA on Tuesday.
Treesa and Gayatri produced a composed performance at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, defeating the American pair of Lam and Lee 21-15, 21-12 to book their place in the Round of 16.
The Indian pair maintained control through both games and did not allow their American opponents to build sustained pressure. After taking the opening game 21-15, Treesa and Gayatri stepped up their attacking play to close out the second 21-12.
Notably, the shuttlers had one more reason to celebrate as they were named among the recipients of the Arjuna Award for 2025.
The women's doubles pair was among the 17 sportspersons named for the prestigious sporting honour on Tuesday morning.
The athletes set to receive the award are: Tejaswin Shankar (athletics), Muhammad Ajmal Variyathodi (athletics), Priyanka Goswami (athletics), Treesa Jolly (badminton), Gayatri Gopichand (badminton), Narender (boxing), Vidit Santosh Gujarathi (chess) Divya Jitendra Deshmukh (chess), Dhanush Srikanth (deaf shooting), Lalremsiami (hockey), Rajkumar Pal (hockey), Surjeet (kabaddi), Pooja (kabaddi), Rudransh Khandelwal (para-shooting), Ekta Bhyan (para-shooting), Arvind Singh (rowing) and Akhil Sheoran (shooting). (ANI)